


no more demons (in my head)

by Phoenix_Allura (Artemis_Autumn_Marie)



Series: Nix's Whumptober 2019 [20]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Gen, Kind of disassociation?, Panic Attacks, Whumptober, Whumptober 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:01:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25974097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artemis_Autumn_Marie/pseuds/Phoenix_Allura
Summary: Prompt: TremblingPercy and Annabeth had a good night out, everything was going well.Until it wasn't.And Percy didn't know why.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase & Clarisse La Rue, Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Percy Jackson & Clarisse La Rue
Series: Nix's Whumptober 2019 [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1507226
Comments: 2
Kudos: 56





	no more demons (in my head)

**Author's Note:**

> Happy birthday to Percy Jackson!  
> I started this last month, but I finished it up the other night and wanted to post it for Percy's birthday!

Percy stared at his hand. He was aware there was a lot going on around them, but it was all a blur.  
Background noise.  
Percy stared at his hand.  
It was trembling.  
That probably meant the rest of him was trembling, too.  
Percy didn’t want to think about that, not really.  
“Hey... think he’s in shock… get here as soon as you can…” Annabeth was talking, but he didn’t know who was on the other end of the line. Or was she IMing someone?  
Percy stared at his hand.  
Stared at the cigarette burn scars.  
Stared at the one from the Minotaur.  
Stared at the several from holding the cliff, before the fall.  
They were darker than the rest of his hand; most of his scars were. His mom had a few like that. She called it hyperpigmentation.  
Percy traced the scars with his eyes.  
His hand was still trembling, but it didn’t bother him as much now.  
“Hey, Percy, take a sip of water for me, okay?” Percy obeyed. “Can you tell me what happened, Percy?”  
Right. This was date night. Annabeth had needed to use the bathroom after their movie, so he’d waited outside.  
That didn’t explain why he was trembling.  
“Percy, can you focus on me?” Annabeth’s tone was even if a bit worried.  
Percy looked at Annabeth.  
“Good. Come over to the bench, it’ll be more comfortable than standing.” With Annabeth’s help, Percy got to the bench.  
“Was there an attack?” Percy knew she meant monsters and shook his head.  
Just him and his scars.  
It hadn’t felt like any panic attack he’d had before.  
More like he had when he’d been dying, floating away from his body.  
Percy stared at the scars on his hand.  
“You’re shaking, Percy, what happened? Can you tell me yet?” Percy shook his head. He didn’t talk sometimes, after. Sometimes it was only a few minutes, others it was hours.  
“Clarisse is coming to pick us up,” Annabeth told him. “Do you want me to keep talking?” Percy nodded. He felt a little more settled, now.  
“I had fun, Perce, even if we made out more than we watched. And they always have the best popcorn here, thank you for getting me the biggest bucket as a surprise.” Annabeth kept talking about their date. After a few minutes, he tapped her hand and gestured to the buildings around them.  
“You want me to talk about architecture?” He nodded. Some of the technical stuff but go over his head, but he still liked listening.  
As Annabeth spoke, other details came into focus—the cinema’s open sign blinking, the streetlights turning on, the red bandana in the distance.  
He’d never had a panic attack so publicly. This was different.  
“There’s Clarisse, Percy. Want me to stand and wave?” Percy shook his head; the crowd had thinned out and he didn’t want to draw attention to them.  
“Okay. Do you want me to keep talking?” Percy nodded again, but this time he reached over to take her hand. Annabeth squeezed gently, and Percy managed to focus on her words.  
“That building over there used to be the Justice Building, look at the columns and the statue. It was a museum for a while, I came when I was younger. It’s been closed for years, but they haven’t done anything to it yet.”  
“Sorry I’m late for the lecture, Professor Chase.” Percy laughed. Clarisse had caught the last sentence or so.  
“Oh, you’re fine, Clarisse, we were just finishing anyway.”  
Clarisse looked him over, then sighed. “Alright, kelp-for-brains, let’s get you back to camp.”  
Camp, where he could IM one of the therapists in New Rome.  
Percy stood, the ground only swaying a little now that he had mostly stopped trembling. Annabeth and Clarisse stayed by his sides, and he knew each had a hand on a weapon.  
With a girlfriend and friends like his, he didn’t need to be worried.  
Not about the monsters on the streets.  
And not about how he would manage the ones in his head.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone!  
> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are always appreciated, and come hang out with me on [tumblr!](https://thaliaisalesbian.tumblr.com/)  
> As always,  
> Nix


End file.
